Tag Archives: identify

Jesus Did Not Say That We Must Be Introspective

Apologetics, , ,

JESUS DID NOT SAY THAT WE MUST BE INSTROSPECTIVE

Oh, how we love to do post mortems on ourselves, endlessly examining our actions and motives in case we have offended God! Well, some of us do. I suppose it’s part of our natural inclination to put ourselves down – instigated by the deceiver, of course. If there are two people he loves to dishonour, it is God and us.

But didn’t Jesus say that the poor in spirit are blessed? Yes, He did, but He did not mean what we think He meant. As western philosophically-minded Greek-orientated thinkers, that’s how we (and the thousands of theologians who have written, taught or preached about the “Beatitudes” froma western abstract perspective) interpret the first beatitude.

Before we can say categorically, “This is what it means,” we must look at the Hebrew construction in which the Beatitudes occur. Jesus used a common Hebrew construction called a “chiasm” or “reverse concentric symmetry”. Don’t be put off by the fancy-sounding title. Let me explain.

A chiasm uses a unique pattern of repetition to clarify or emphasise a point. Instead of making a series of statements which go from point A to B to C, and end at point C, the teacher makes a preliminary statement which moves towards the central point of his teaching and then backs out, statement by statement to end where he began. Look at the following example and match the statements:

‘No one can serve two masters.
Either he will hate the one and
love the other, or
he will be devoted to the one and
despise the other.
You cannot serve both God and Money.
(Matt. 6:  24)

Chiasms are usually arranged in the same top-to-bottom form as they appear in the text:

A No one can serve two masters.
B Either he will hate the one and
C love the other, or
C′ he will be devoted to the one and
B′ despise the other.
A′ You cannot serve both God and Money.
(Matt. 6: 24)

If we do not recognise the chiastic structure, we will miss the point of the repetition. The thought is not that no one can serve two masters, God or money. We must look at the central point to get the thrust of Jesus’s teaching.

A and A’, B and B’ and C and C’ have similar themes, serving two masters, God or money, hating the one and loving the other. C and C’ are the centre point – the most important statement. This is not about a choice to serve God or money. This is about the devotion we give to the one we have chosen to serve.

The right thing to do is to serve God rather than money but the driving force of our service to Him is to be our devotion rather than our duty. When we serve God out of devotion to Him, nothing is too much to do or to give to Him. Our service is the outflow of our love, which is the most important thing. This takes us back to the greatest commandment to love the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength.

http://www.bible-discernments.com/oshua/whatisachiasm.html (Thomas B Clarke, retrieved March, 2015).

Although difficult to recognise, the so-called “Beatitudes” are an example of this rabbinic teaching method.

Matt. 5: 3-12 can be subdivided into three chiasms, verses 3 to 5, 6 to 8 and 9 to 12.

  1. Blessed are those who mourn . . .

The first chiasm, verses 3 to 5, can be represented this way:

A – Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven

B – Blessed are those who mourn for they will be comforted

A’ – Blessed are the meek for they will in inherit the earth.

The central idea in this chiasm is B – Blessed are those who mourn.

Jesus was quoting here from Isaiah 66:

This is the one I esteem: the one who is humble and contrite in spirit and trembles at my word. (Isa. 66: 2b),

and from Psa. 37:

The meek will inherit the land and enjoy great peace. (Psa. 37: 11).

The Hebrew word for “poor” is aniy; and the word for “meek” is anav (remembering that Jesus would have spoken Hebrew, not Greek).  The words “poor” and “meek” come from the same Hebrew root, an. “Poor in spirit” can mean “poor in breath” or “poor in wind” here when ruach refers to a human being, from the Hebrew word ruach meaning “breath”, “wind” or “spirit”. One who is “poor in wind” is a person who is not puffed up or full of “hot air”, someone who is not full of his own importance.

The meek are the anavim, a word which is usually translated as the “lowly ones”.

“This word does not suggest weakness, but rather the recognition of one’s proper place in the universe before God. It is no self-effacing but reality-focused. The meek inherit the earth because they are grounded in the truth of reality.”

http://www.hebrew4christians.com/Scripture/BritChadashah/Beatitudes/beatitudes.html (from the article, “The Beatitudes of Jesus in Hebrew”, author unknown, retrieved March, 2015).

A paraphrase of these two thoughts would read something like this:

O how blessed and fortunate are those who are not full of their own importance and who can take their rightful place before God in submission to Him. These are the ones who have a place in God’s kingdom and who will receive their inheritance as His people.

Now let’s look at the central thought of this chiasm.

What have poverty of spirit and meekness to do with mourning? There are two possible ideas in this text.

One commentator suggests that this is the “godly sorrow” that leads us to repentance. In other words, when we recognise that we have left God’s way and become lost in the desert, we need to shuv – “return” – to the way of Yahweh so that we keep going in the right direction in order to reach Mount Zion where He has placed His name. When we have the humility to admit that we are wrong and return to the way, we shall experience the true happiness of following God’s path again.

Another way of looking at this passage is to recognise that there are others around us who have needs. We are called to forget ourselves and identify with those who are experiencing the grief and pain of loss. It takes humility and inner strength to come alongside those who are in deep emotional pain and to mourn with them.

Perhaps Jesus was teaching His disciples that there is true blessing and happiness when we are willing to give ourselves away to others. In this way we invite God’s comfort on our own lives because He always gives back what we give away.

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we have received from God. (2 Cor. 1: 3-4)

Part of the Jewish mourning process was to “sit shiva” for seven days, supporting the mourner with one’s presence without saying anything. Another form of support was to wear sackcloth, a rough type of fabric, to throw ashes on one’s head, and to tear one’s robe as a sign of identity with the mourner.

The ancient rabbis viewed the heavy curtain that separated the Holy Place from the Most Holy Place as God’s “robe” which hid Him from view. When Jesus died, God tore His “robe” as a sign of His grief. Now that the Father has suffered grief, He is able to comfort us as we extend comfort to others in their sorrow and loss.

There is something cyclical about the way God treats us. As we share with others in their grief, laying aside self-importance and self-interest, God will comfort us as we have comforted others. This is part of the essence of the way God’s kingdom works.

O the blessedness of those who are self-forgetful, setting themselves and their needs aside to identify with those who are suffering through loss and hardship. God will comfort them in their own loss just as they have identified with and comforted those who have suffered loss.

(Quotation take from “Learning to be a Disciple” © Luella Campbell 2015, Partridge Publishing, pages 78-82)

This is the disposition of the disciple who “hungers and thirsts for righteousness”, seeking God’s kingdom and His righteousness above self-interest, yearning to do the right thing in every situation. God’s promise is that he shall receive the same comfort from God as he has given to those who grieve.

Oh what a difference when we approach the Bible from a Hebrew perspective and read it the way it was meant to be understood and not from our own worldview!

Scripture taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

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Why Can’t I Be Baptized?

Christian Life, , ,

WHY CAN’T I BE BAPTIZED?

“As they continued down the road, they came to a stream of water. The eunuch said, ‘Here’s water. Why can’t I be baptized?’ He ordered the chariot to stop. They both went down to the water and Philip baptized him on the spot. When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of God suddenly took Philip off, and that was the last the eunuch saw of him. He had what he’d come for and went off down the road as happy as he could be.

“Philip showed up in Azotus and continued north, preaching the Message in all the villages along that route until he arrived at Caesarea.” Acts 8:36-40 (The Message).

Mission accomplished! The seed of God’s word was sown in the heart of an African man who came to Jerusalem seeking the Lord. He was on his way home, with his feet firmly planted on “The Way” and the joy of the Lord spilling out of him.

Although Philip did not mention baptism, why did the eunuch seem to know what to do to seal his new-found faith in the Lord Jesus? If he was one of people the Book of Acts called “God-fearers”, he would have understood the ritual of baptism in the Jewish faith.

Baptism was a common practice in Judaism. It was a ritual washing (mikvah) in running or “living” water to initiate someone into a new office, e.g., into the priestly office, or into a new phase of his life or identity with a new leader, e.g., the baptism of John. Both John the Baptist and Jesus’ disciples baptized people regularly, according to John 4:1. No doubt this man, being a Gentile, had been baptized into Judaism at some time in his life as a sign that he had embraced the Jewish faith.

Just as He had done with the Passover meal, i.e. revealed its fulfilment in Himself as the Passover Lamb, so Jesus had also infused baptism with a new meaning – His resurrection. When we eat the bread and drink the wine which symbolize His broken body and shed blood, we are expressing our faith in His sacrifice which redeemed us from slavery in “Egypt”.

Likewise, when we are “baptized”, we are immersed in a watery grave as a symbol of our identity with Him in His death and we “rise” to a new life with and in Him. This is a clear and visible statement that we have died to our old way and have risen to a new life of identity with Jesus.

“We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? We were therefore buried with Him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.” Romans 6:2-4 (NIV)

The implication of baptism is much more than a ritual initiation into Christianity. It is a public confession of our identity with Jesus in His death and resurrection and a symbol of our cleansing from sin and embracing our new life in him.

“Since then you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died and your life is now hidden with Christ in God.” Colossians 3:1-3 (NIV).

Perhaps at this stage the eunuch did not understand all the implications of his baptism, but at least he knew that his life had changed direction. He was now on course to follow Jesus and be identified with Him and with all those who had become a part of “The Way”.

Partners In Crime

Christian Life, , ,

PARTNERS IN CRIME

“Herod was delighted when Jesus showed up. He had wanted for a long time to see Him; he’d heard so much about Him. He hoped to see Him do something spectacular. He peppered Him with questions. Jesus didn’t answer — not one word. But the high priests and religion scholars were there, saying their piece, strident and shrill in their accusations.

“Mightily offended, Herod turned on Jesus. His soldiers joined in, taunting and jeering. Then they dressed him up in an elaborate king costume and sent Him back to Pilate. That day Herod and Pilate became thick as thieves. Always before they had kept their distance.” Luke 23:8-12 (The Message).

Now it’s Herod’s turn — the other authority figure responsible for justice in the land. It takes a run-in with the truth to show his true colours. He emerges as an even more unsavoury character than Pilate, who was at least honest enough to consider the accusations and acknowledge Jesus’ innocence.

To Herod, Jesus was nothing but an object of amusement and a plaything. When Jesus refused to dance to his tune, he tossed Him aside with contempt. It was not justice he was after but entertainment for his own pleasure. He led the way, giving the soldiers permission by his own attitude, to humiliate Jesus by their words and actions.

It was also the soldiers’ turn to confirm their guilt in this saga. By their behaviour they condemned themselves to the same fate as all the others. They had no personal axe to grind with Jesus and yet they treated Him like an enemy, cornered prey that they could torment before killing because, for a short time, they had Him in their power, so they thought.

Always, in the background, the religious hierarchy pranced around like hyenas, there in force to ensure that the prey did not escape.

Each one in this unfolding drama reveals his true self and confirms his culpability before God. And so with us. The value of this record would be lost to us if we did not place ourselves somewhere in this story. We may not occupy a seat of justice or rulership but we have to face the same Jesus and make a decision regarding who He is.

Like the people directly responsible for His death, we have to come up with a verdict. Was He an imposter, guilty of blasphemy or treason, or was He the Son of God and King of kings? If we declare Him guilty as charged, we have not honestly evaluated the evidence. If we declare Him innocent, we stand guilty with those who condemned Him to death unjustly, because all humanity was represented in that act.

The sequel to this bizarre chain of events was the unlikely alliance that came about that day. In their unwillingness to fulfil their duty to serve justice on a condemned man, Pilate, the arrogant and ruthless representative of Roman government and Herod, the half-Jew playboy ruler of Galilee, joined hands in condemning Jesus to death and became partners in the worst crime ever committed by human beings. Pilate, by handing an innocent man over to the will of a religious mob and Herod, by his callous indifference, washed their hands of God then, but have to face Him again.

What about us? If we choose to wash our hands of Jesus now, as Pilate did then, we too will have to face Him again, and this time He will be in the seat of justice. His perfect justice will be to give us exactly what we want – nothing to do with Him.

Peter and his fellow disciples were equally guilty on that day. One denied and they all deserted Him, but they came back and Jesus forgave them on the same grounds that He always forgives, “They do not know what they are doing.” They had no idea of the implications of their behaviour. Neither did Pilate or Herod but they never returned to receive the same mercy and forgiveness extended to the disciples.

How much better to return now and acknowledge your part in Jesus’ death. He was the sacrificial lamb put to death for you, blood for blood, so that you may receive the gift of His life, and never have to face the judgment that would sever you from Him forever.